Ah, the British Pluck Comedy. A staple that makes you proud to have been born with the Union Jack wrapped around you. Assuming you, er, were born in a flag factory due to a hilarious scheduling mix-up. Aaanyway, a film that firmly falls into that venerable category is Nigel Cole’s Made In Dagenham, and the first trailer is now online.
A fact-based comedy drama, Dagenham takes as its source the 1968 strike by female workers at the Ford car plant. Sick of cramped, impoverished working and living conditions and cheesed off with toiling just as hard as their male counterparts for less pay, the camel’s back finally breaks when they’re reclassified as “unskilled”.
Rita O’Grady (Sally Hawkins) decides the time has come to act. Her take-no-crap attitude inspires her fellow workers to lay down their tools and strike, with the effects felt even in the higher reaches of government.
Boasting a cast of some top talent including Hawkins, Bob Hoskins, Miranda Richardson, Rosamund Pike, Geraldine James, Roger Lloyd-Pack, Kenneth Cranham and even The West Wing’s Richard Schiff, the film looks like it’ll easily carry on the tradition of such films as The Full Monty and Calendar Girls.
And for those that follow such things, the film’s producer is none other than Empire Cannes Videblogisode annual guest star Woolley On The Web, AKA Stephen Woolley. Watch as he explains why it’s not called We Want Sex anymore, among other topics.
Made In Dagenham is out on October 1.